


carnival

by HyperchaoticStarlight (MVPYurio)



Series: i'll be around for you [16]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Carnival, Ferris Wheels, Gen, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark Friendship, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-07-02 21:17:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15804750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MVPYurio/pseuds/HyperchaoticStarlight
Summary: Natasha faces her fears, and Tony faces his feelings.





	carnival

**Author's Note:**

> (Noooo, not those kind of feelings! Y'all know these two are in happy relationships.)
> 
> Prompt from tonystark5ever on Tumblr: "Tony and Natasha at a carnival and finding out the assassin spy who can jump off buildings is afraid of one of the rides against all reason and he goes with her and she loves it and they share a funnel cake because she has NEVER HAD ONE which is actually a crime."
> 
> I can't believe it took me this long to write Natasha. Here we go! –Lia

Natasha was _bored._

Clint was with his family, Steve was with Bucky, and Pepper was off doing SI stuff.

God, she just wanted to do something, with someone. Anyone.

She pulled out her phone and sent a message to Tony.

**[[Anxiety Man]**

**assassinat:** **  
** Hey

 **Anxiety Man:** **  
** Hey, what’s up?

 **aassassinat:** **  
**Nm  
Bored af  
U?

 **Anxiety Man:** **  
**Ugh, me too, I am so bored  
For some reason Pep needed Bruce at this SI meeting thing but not me  
And everyone else is doing shit  
Let’s go to a carnival

 **assassinat:** **  
** What?

 **Anxiety Man:** **  
**It’s the middle of summer. Somewhere in the US, there’s a carnival going on  
Let’s go to a carnival

 **assassinat:** **  
** I’m in

“I have no idea how you do it, Nat,” said Tony.

“Do what?”

“Look _absolutely fucking kickass_ in a floral crop top and denim shorts.”

Natasha laughed. “I exude kickassery. What can I say?”

“Yeah, whatever. Get in the car.”

Tony didn’t completely understand his relationship with Natasha—they were teammates, and friends, and he was admittedly attracted to her for a little while…

But now, with all of the weirdness over—ever since he and Bruce had moved back into the Tower—he had found himself growing closer and closer to Nat in a way that was unfamiliar, and yet enjoyable. He felt at ease around Natasha, felt safe around her. He trusted her.

“You alright, Tony?” Natasha asked.

“What? Oh. Oh, I’m fine. Thinking, that’s all.”

“Alright.” Natasha lightly patted Tony’s shoulder. “Let’s get going then, yeah?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

~~~~

Natasha Romanov and Tony Stark were many things—but they were _not_ grownups, at least not when left to their own devices.

As soon as they arrived at the carnival, they dashed out of the car and began chasing and racing each other across the field to get to the entrance, laughing—almost screaming—in delight, like children, eyes sparkling as they took in the bright colors that stood tall and proud in their sights. They reached the entrance, and Tony handed over some wad of cash in exchange for bright green wristbands—“these’ll get you unlimited rides on whatever you want and free snacks, green means go,” the 20-someodd at the window said with a winning smile—and then they were inside.

“What’re we gonna do first?” Tony asked, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. “We may as well go for all the rides, but what’re we doing first?”

“Teacups,” said Natasha. “Teacups. Right now.”

“As you wish,” said Tony. “Shall we?”

They went to the teacups, and then they went on the pirate ship, and the flying swings, and then they utterly demolished a few unfortunate children on the bumper cars. Oops.

“Well, I’m getting hungry,” said Tony. “But do you wanna do the Freefall before we eat?”

Natasha froze. “Uhhhh.”

“What’s wrong, Nat?” Tony asked.

“I’m… kinda afraid of rides like that. I’m kinda scared of heights.”

Tony blinked a few times. “You’re scared of heights? But you jump off of buildings all the time.”

“I know what I’m doing when I do that. I know I’m not gonna fall. But being launched up in the air on that thing, just to fall down? To trust that the guy is gonna control it and not get us killed? Scary.”

“Well, if you don’t wanna go, I won’t make you,” said Tony. “But I am still gonna go. You know me—I’m an adrenaline junkie.”

Natasha thought for a few seconds. “Y’know what? Screw it. I’m gonna give it a try.”

“You sure?” Tony asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure.”

Tony slung an arm around Natasha’s shoulders. “Then c’mon, Nat. Let’s face some fears.”

~~~~

“Well, that’s that,” said Tony, extending a hand as he hopped off of the ride. “How’re you doing, Nat?”

Natasha grinned and accepted Tony’s hand. “That was amazing. I can’t believe I was scared all this time.”

“Well, now you’re not.” Tony put an arm around her shoulders. “Food?”

“Oh God yes,” said Natasha. “I want pizza.”

“Pizza, and then how about funnel cake?” Tony suggested.

“And then what?” Natasha asked.

“Funnel cake… you’ve never had funnel cake?” Natasha shook her head. “Jesus. I’ve had funnel cake, and I didn’t have a childhood. Okay, that settles it—pizza and then funnel cake.”

They ate their pizza on a bench, but decided to take their funnel cake onto the Ferris wheel and eat it there. Tony had gotten one for them to share and put a respectable amount of powdered sugar on it before walking with Natasha over to the line.

“Let’s see if we can resist eating it until we actually get onto the wheel,” said Tony.

“I can,” said Natasha. “Not sure about you.”

“You have no faith in me,” Tony half-whined.

As a matter of fact, they were able to make it without eating any of the cake, but as soon as the ride began, Tony grabbed a piece, much to Natasha’s amusement. She leaned against him and took a piece herself.

“Holy _shit,_ this is good,” she said. “Hey, look, the sun’s starting to go down.”

“Damn,” said Tony, staring out at the sunset. “That’s gorgeous.”

Natasha took another piece of cake. “Wish Bruce were here, so you could kiss him at the top?”

“I’ll do that another time,” said Tony. “This is fun, though. I like hanging out with you. You’re…”

“I’m what?”

Natasha looked over at him with bright eyes. Her shoulder was still pressed up against his, soft.

And then, finally, it clicked.

“You’re like a sister,” said Tony.

Natasha wrapped an arm around Tony’s shoulder. “Oh?”

“Yeah. Yeah, you are.”

“Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> This series is brought to you by Lia (she/her, HyperchaoticStarlight) and James (they/them, TheMagicMicrobus). We try to update about every 2 weeks. However, we are both students (Lia is in college; James is in high school), and so we cannot promise perfection.
> 
> Find Lia on Tumblr @ hyperchaoticstarlight, marvel-at-these-gays, scienceshipping, and tinytonys.  
> Find James on Tumblr @ themagicmicrobus and morethanhumantogether.
> 
> If you have ideas for this series, please feel free to reach out to one of us and we will consider putting it in!


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